Peter Constantine reads

Practical Solutions

A poem by Dinos Siotis (1944—)
trans. by Peter Constantine
Perhaps the Barbarians
were not as brutal after
all as they are described
in the chronicles of history,
even if they drank the tears of
Greek and Romans in cupfuls,
even if they shared their caves
and huts with beasts and reptiles
they did not perfume
their sturdy bodies as did
the youths of Sidon, they
did not sing and did not
dance, with soiled faces
they worshipped the dust
of their war cries and
lay down upon the stones
after yesterday’s battle, they
did not know how to write
or read—it was others
who set fire to the library
of Alexandria—
they were seeking practical solutions:
to become good hunters,
to gather in groups, so that their
wives and children would
have food to eat, and if
the civilized were also to
be included among their prey
barbarians were not to blame,
they were driven there because
their cold climates had repelled
them and they wanted to know the
sea: that too was a practical solution.

Fromthebook

Homer to the Present

This landmark volume captures three millennia of Greek poetry—more than 1,000 poems and 200 poets. From the epics of Homeric Greece to the historical and erotic ironies of Cavafy, from the romances, hymns, and bawdy rhymes of Byzantium to the innovative voices of a resurgent twentieth century, this anthology brings together the diverse strands of the Greek poetic tradition. more »

About Peter Constantine

Peter Constantine’s most recent translations are Sophocles’ Theban Trilogy, The Essential Writings of Machiavelli, and The Bird is a Raven by Benjamin Lebert, which was awarded the Helen und Kurt Wolff Translation Prize. His translation of the complete works of Isaac Babel received the Koret Jewish Literature Award and a National Jewish Book Award citation. He was one of the editors for A Century of Greek Poetry: 1900-2000, and is a senior editor at Conjunctions.